Chapter 20: A Kiss so Sweet
A breath caught in my throat. There was no longer "well there's a chance that I'm not." I was in fact pregnant.
I drew back to run out of the room but I bumped into Charon. I needed to get out of there. I couldn't breath.
The walls were closing in on me. The world was spiraling around as the edges of my vision were getting darker and before I knew it, the world be black.
I woke up on something soft under me. I felt something rough in my hand. I opened my eyes to see the ceiling of the clinic and Charon holing my hand.
"How you doin', smoothskin?"
I smile and tried to sit up. A sharp pain in my back shot up. I whined and laid back down. "What happened? Where am I?"
"You passed out. We're still in the clinic." He passed me a bottle of water.
"Why am I in the clinic?" I thanked him and chugged it.
"Uh, you are pregnant." He said bluntly.
Water spewed across my chest and all over his face. "I'm sorry. I'm fucking what?"
He wiped his face. "Pregnant, but you don't have to face it alone. I am here when you need me. For good or ill."
I laid back down with a thump. Staring at the ceiling in disbelief seemed to do nothing. "I don't deserve you."
His brows knit together in confusion. "What do you mean? You want to sell my contract?"
I sat up on my elbows. "What are you talking about? I'm not selling the contract. Let me reword it. You are too good to me to deserve you."
"I do not understand. I am only doing what I feel I should."
"What you do for me vastly exceeds what the contract says you need to do. You do what you feel you should because you actually care and I don't know of anyone that actually cares for me the way you do." I slipped my fingers into his.
"I don't-"
"If you guys are going to do anything, please do it in your own place. I try to keep these gurneys clean." Barrows interrupted.
Charon glared over his shoulder. "Zip it, Barrows. We are not doing anything inappropriate."
"It always starts off like that." Barrows muttered to himself.
Charon turned back to me and rested his forehead on the back of my hand, closing his eyes. It was rare times like these Charon let me see the tender side of him. The side that pushed on after all the shit he'd been through. The side that needed protecting.
"Charon?" I asked barely above a whisper.
"Yes, Eleanor." Charon asked quietly, eyes still shut.
"Take me to the room, please. I just want to lie down."
He nodded and stood up slowly. He hooked an arm under my knees and the other under my back. He lifted me up and turned to leave.
"Eleanor," Barrows called out. "Go easy for the next nine months. Charon, make sure she stays safe."
Charon grunted and nudged the door open with his foot. I bobbed up and down in his arms as he walked up the stairs.
"You put up with a lot of shit for me, you know that?" I mumbled.
"I will do anything for you if you ask, Eleanor."
"I know. The contract makes you."
"The contract only says I need to protect your life. Not everything I do is because the contract makes me, Elle."
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that. You're just a really good person. No one else in the world would do the things you do for me. And I'm not just talking about the contract."
"I do the things I do because you are worth it."
He opened the door to Carol's and walked in. He pushed the divider open and rested me on the bed. He was mid way to sitting down in the chair before I stopped him and patted the bed.
He laid down stiffly but eased into my back and pulled me closer. I adjusted for our comfort.
"I care about you, Charon. A lot. I don't want you doing things that will get you hurt in order to save my stupid ass."
"I... I don't think I've ever had someone care about me."
"And I'm sorry that it has been like that for you but you have me now." I strained to look over at him.
"It is me that doesn't deserve you." His eyes held uncertain sadness. It was painful to see him struggling so hard with emotions.
"You deserve me way more than I deserve you." I turned over in his arms to face him.
"If you insist."
"I very much do insist. I also think that you need to lighten up. Have some fun."
"In certain situations, I must protect you at all costs. I can't 'have some fun.'"
"But that doesn't mean you have to be such a hard ass all the time." A smile tugged the corner of my lips.
"You know what I could do to just 'have some fun'?" Charon asked with a smug look.
"What would that be?" I beamed.
His lips pressed to mine gently. They were rough but not bad. I closed my eyes and cupped his cheek. His hands went to my lower back, pulling me closer to him. He broke the kiss off, to much of my dismay.
I bit my lip and my cheeks bloomed with heat. I looked up at him under my lashes.
Charon held his hand up to his mouth, eyes wide. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that. You may punish me with anything. I'm so sor-"
I shut him up by pressing my lips to his tenderly.
"It's fine, Charon."